Father Of Man Who Allegedly Shot, Killed London Bean Charged With Second-Degree Murder
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) - The father of the man who allegedly shot and killed 12-year-old London Bean earlier this year now faces charges in connection to the child's death.
Letterance Grady, 40, was charged with two counts of second-degree murder and one count of aiding an offender in Hennepin County on Friday.
On Sept. 8, police responded to a "chaotic scene" on the 800 block of Aldrich Avenue North, where they found Bean shot. Witnesses said the person who had fired the gun had already left the scene in a car.
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The complaint says that Bean was fighting with another young boy when Jeremiah Marquise Grady - Letterance Grady's son - appeared, masked, and pointing a gun. He allegedly yelled "Yeah! Wassup" and started firing shots, approaching Bean and shooting him twice. He then turned around and shot in the direction of another child, who was not struck by any of the rounds.
Jeremiah Grady, 18, was charged a few days later with two counts of second-degree murder.
Though he initially denied involvement with the shooting, Letterance Grady was taken into custody on Thursday. According to the complaint, he said that on the day of the shooting, Jeremiah Grady had texted him to say that his younger children were going to get "jumped."
Letterance Grady admitted to driving past the home on Aldrich Avenue North with Jeremiah Grady, and seeing a group of women and children outside. Jeremiah Grady allegedly told his father that the people outside were part of an ongoing feud with his siblings. Letterance Grady then parked the car in the lot behind the house, court documents say.
Letterance Grady said his son ran from the car to the front of the house. He heard shots, and the two left the scene in a car, the complaint states. Surveillance video shows Letterance Grady driving his son to and from the scene of the shooting.
In an interview with police soon after the shooting, Jeremiah Grady allegedly said his father had encouraged him to retaliate against Bean's family for the bullying of his siblings by shooting. Jeremiah Grady was told by his father to shoot out of a car, the complaint says.
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Letterance Grady denied telling his son to shoot. He is currently in custody.
Bean's death was one of a string of fatal shootings of children in Minneapolis this summer. Trinity Ottoson-Smith, 9, was shot in the head on May 15 while jumping on a trampoline at a birthday party. Aniya Allen, 6, was shot two days later while on a trip to McDonald's in her family's car.
If convicted, Letterance Grady could face up to 40 years in prison for each second-degree murder charge.
